The Republican | Diane LedermanWith a $1.2 million Small Bottleneck Grant this bridge on South Road will be replaced and the road widened to make it safer for pedestrians and cars.

WESTHAMPTON -- At a literal bottleneck on South Road a stone's throw from the town center, state highway officials formally announced that the town will receive a $1.2 million "Small Bottleneck" grant to replace a narrow bridge.

The project will replace the existing 12-foot long and 20 foot wide bridge with a three-sided precast concrete culvert that will be about 28 feet wide. The road will be milled and repaved from the town center to just past the bridge.

The funding comes from a new state funding source called the Small Bottleneck Grant Program. The grants are intended for small projects that slip through the funding cracks, said State Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Richard A. Davey.

The bridge replacement is one of four projects funded from that grant program, he said, and the first in western Massachusetts.

The state looked for small projects that have been in the application pipeline for a while and that are ready to go, such as the South Road project. Davey said the grants are intended to make “roads safe and improve the quality of life.”

The Republican | Diane LedermanA $1.2 million grant from the state Smalll Bottleneck Grant program will pay to replace this bridge on South Road in Westhampton and make it eight feet wider, safer for pedestrians and vehicles.

David Blakesley, the town’s highway superintendent, said the project has been in the works for some time. The town has been looking for funding since 2008, and the bottleneck was supposed to have been fixed when South Street was redone five years ago. The bridge replacement was removed from that project, and Blakesley said he didn’t know why.

Blakesley credited state District 2 Highway Director Al Stegemann with helping secure the new funding, noting, “He knew how important it is to finish the bridge.”

Blakesley said there have been a few accidents as the road narrows at the bridge, a section that’s dangerous for pedestrians and virtually too narrow for two vehicles to cross at once. “It’s the main road leading into the center of town, it’s definitely a bottleneck,” he said.

Blakesley said he expects to put the project out to bid in January and the work is expected to begin in April of 2013 and be completed by December. A detour will be put in place during construction.

“We’re very excited to see this project come to a close,” Select Board member Brian Mulvehill said.